Port of Valencia received the first load of hydrogen (H2) to supply the refuelling station located on the Xità quay. This makes it the first port in Europe to have a hydrogen installation in real operating conditions.
This hydrogen supply station (HRS) includes a fixed part dedicated to the reception, storage and compression of hydrogen up to delivery pressure, on which the test was carried out on January 17, and a mobile part which stores the compressed hydrogen and has a dispenser for refuelling the port machinery.
The first tubetrailer of green hydrogen cylinders arrived at the hydrogen plant and was loaded into the storage tank at the Port of Valencia. Different tests were carried out for about an hour to prepare the entire operation for filling the fixed tank located on the Xità quay with H2.
Next week, the mobile station will be loaded and will be responsible for travelling to the MSC and Grimaldi terminals to supply hydrogen to the two prototypes of port machinery, which will arrive in the near future, where this clean fuel will be tested.
Specifically, it will be tested in a ‘Reachstacker’ vehicle or container stacker and in a 4×4 tractor unit. In the coming weeks, a team of dockers and technicians from Valenciaport will travel to Holland to test the Reachstacker, which is being designed by Hyster Europe.
The ro-ro tractor is being adapted by Atena Distretto. Both will run on fuel cells and electric motors, which will be powered by H2, and will be zero-emission.
The PAV’s Head of Environmental Policies, Raúl Cascajo, stressed that:
This project is strategic for the reduction of emissions and is in addition to other initiatives such as the installation of photovoltaic plants or wind turbines to meet our commitment to be a zero emissions port by 2030
For her part, Cristina Ballester of the National Hydrogen Centre stressed the importance of “introducing hydrogen technologies in a port as strategic as Valencia through a portable station to supply this clean fuel to the two prototypes of machinery at the MSC and Grimaldi terminals. It is a very ambitious research project with a view to the ports being able to generate hydrogen and be able to manage themselves so that all the port machinery operates with zero emissions”.
